CategoryHealth Care Policy Archives - Knope Clinic

It has been a pleasure writing The Pearl for you over the past several years. I have very much enjoyed your feedback on my newsletters. Because the response has been so positive, I have taken several hours every month to write these articles. However, due to some challenging new developments in the Tucson medical community, I will no longer have the time to write The Pearl. So this will be my last newsletter. In some of my newsletters, I have warned you about the coming crisis in medicine as a result of the sweeping changes of ObamaCare.… Read the rest

For those of you who have not been following the story, the VA medical system has come under attack over the past month after a whistleblower, a Dr. Foote from the Phoenix VA Hospital, disclosed that 40 veterans have died waiting to be seen by a doctor. It is not clear at this point in time if some or all of those men died as a direct result of the delay in their care. However, many of these patients were waiting 6 to 9 months to see a primary care doctor, even after some had been to the emergency room for life-threatening medical conditions.… Read the rest

I was recently interviewed for a Concierge Medicine article that was just posted on the blog site Bargaineering.com. This gave me the opportunity to discuss the changes to the Concierge Medicine market in the past few months since the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was passed and what I predict for the near future. I provide a bit of advice on how to discover just the right doctor for you; someone who you feel comfortable with and will answer your questions and be available when you need them.… Read the rest

Over the past several months, I’ve been silent on the subject of ObamaCare. But as the controversy has grown, I’ve received numerous requests for an update on this law. In this piece I will go beyond outlining the problems and will explain what is at the heart of the law, why the American people were deceived, and why this law will not survive.

Since October of 2013 when ObamaCare was launched, we have witnessed one disaster after another.… Read the rest

In Part 1 of this newsletter I addressed the demoralization of many physicians in this country. I discussed why doctors are leaving medicine and retiring early. This letter is devoted to a significant portion of my patients who have been experiencing their own kind of malaise.

A couple of months ago a patient whom I’ve known for years came to my office for a routine visit. Her husband is a recently retired dentist and she was his office manager.… Read the rest

This will be the first of a two-part newsletter. In Part 1, I will explain why many doctors are leaving medicine. Next month, I will explain why some of us have decided to stay – not only in body, but in mind and in spirit.

So that my comments today are not interpreted as sour grapes, understand that ObamaCare has not been bad for my practice. In fact, patient-concern over ObamaCare has caused my practice to grow.… Read the rest

The United States Constitution was printed on 6 pages of paper. You can carry a small copy in your pocket and nobody will even know. By contrast, the IRS Tax Code is now 73,954 pages long. The Tax Code is so complex and fraught with pitfalls that I do not even attempt to do my own taxes. As the latest IRS scandal unfolds regarding the targeting of specific Americans for their political beliefs, it is that little Constitution that will be used to defend against the powerful IRS bureaucracy.… Read the rest

The difference between a hero and a martyr is timing. A hero takes charge and leads his people to victory. A martyr loses his life in defense of his beliefs. When ObamaCare collapses under its own weight, which type of doctor will you be?

Reading the Tea Leaves: Based upon several important indicators, I believe that ObamaCare will fail before it is ever fully implemented. For every physician who is running to comply with all of its new rules and regulations, stop running for a moment and think.… Read the rest

I was recently asked to give a talk to a group of doctors who were frustrated with their professional lives. They were attending a conference called Medical Fusion, where they would be exposed to a group of colleagues who had somehow found professional job satisfaction. Because I had authored Concierge Medicine, I was asked to be among the speakers and explain how I had found a way to break free from the system.

After accepting this engagement, I made the decision that I would not play the role of Tony Robbins or Dr.… Read the rest

Dr. David Leffell, the former president of the Yale Medical Group, recently wrote an editorial for the WSJ in which he discussed the unintended consequences of the new healthcare law. Specifically, Leffell discusses what the law is doing to change the practice patterns, mindset, and status of American doctors. He also muses about the impact these changes will have on patient care. Read the article here.

As Leffell observes, doctors are now facing an increasingly burdensome set of regulations as they prepare for the onset of ObamaCare in 2014.… Read the rest